


Cold Confusion

by RisuAlto



Series: Tai Lon's Story [3]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: (it's a random npc I made up for the sake of plot), Battle Couple, Blood, Canon-Typical Hallucinations, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Pre-Relationship, Tai Lon is a badass but spells are a bitch, The White March
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 16:49:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21479647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisuAlto/pseuds/RisuAlto
Summary: While it’s difficult to catch Tai Lon and her party of overly-cautious adventurers off-guard, it can be done.  She really hopes that no one in the Leaden Key was taking notes on this particular encounter.
Relationships: Aloth/The Watcher (implied)
Series: Tai Lon's Story [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548022
Kudos: 8
Collections: Pillars of Eternity Prompts Weekly





	Cold Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> For prompt #0009, "Rescue."
> 
> I really should write more with Devil as a main character. She's so much fun.

The winds south of Stalwart weren’t quite comparable to a bîaŵac, but it was a close thing with the way they seemed to cut straight through both skin and armor like a hot knife through butter. Frigid temperatures alone were dangerous, but when combined with buffeting winds that swept up snow dunes with the ease and enthusiasm of a child, Tai Lon was all too aware that they could be the deadliest threat her party would face on the road back to the Dyrwood.

“Watcher.” Sagani’s voice was sharp as she called forward through the storm.

One glance over her shoulder towards Sagani and Devil told her that she wasn’t alone in thinking that it might be best to find shelter early today. The boreal dwarf’s free hand was tangled in Itumaak’s fur, seeking out the warmth there. The construct’s steps were laborious despite the ground holding only a few inches of snow.

If the women in her party, all either well-accustomed or well-adjusted to facing Rymrgand’s breath on Eora, were uncomfortable, then she didn’t want to imagine how the boys were feeling. Biting her lip, she flicked her eyes over Edér and Aloth. They were standing close together, and Tai Lon’s eyes caught shuffling tracks in the snow, indicating Aloth had moved up behind Edér almost as soon as they stopped. The latter of the two had readjusted his shield accordingly, creating a feeble wind break for the two. 

Durance, also, had drawn up beside Edér, though he stood further back. Whether he was trying not to seem as though he needed help or was simply to stubborn to admit he was cold in the first place, Tai Lon couldn’t tell. Her quick glance in his direction did tell her that he was shivering, though.

Sagani’s severe brown eyes caught Tai Lon’s attention once more as she jerked her head towards some forest-blanketed hills on their left. “Let’s find somewhere to camp down,” she said, voice loud over the winds. 

“Great minds…” Tai Lon hummed, nodding. She began to veer from the path, hoping the trees there would have enough dry wood for a campfire and a modicum of shelter from the winds.

The forest was horrendously dense, which Tai Lon quickly realized was as much a blessing as it was a curse. Though the blizzard’s winds broke against the lattice of trees, the ground was an uneven mass of roots, pitfalls, and mud. Even with a ranger, a fox, and two rogues guiding the party, their pace slowed significantly. It really didn’t help that the white noise of the storm was growing steadily more enraged, whispering in sporadic crescendos that snapped at the edges of Tai Lon’s patience.

The Watcher rubbed her temples briefly but found no relief. The storm and the voices in her mind continued to blur together. Amidst the cacophony, she thought she could make out a child’s cry, but it was gone before she could make sense of it.

So Tai Lon was surprised when she looked up to find her party had pulled to a stop, eyes sharp and narrow as they scanned the surroundingings. 

“Didja all hear that?” Edér asked, switching his attention from the trees to the party and back again.

“I thought I imagined it,” Tai Lon breathed. “I guess not. Where’d it come from?”

Sagani lifted an arm. “That way, about,” she said, indicating the direction in which Itumaak’s nose was pointed.

A loud sigh drew the group’s eyes towards Durance, who was leaning almost theatrically against his staff. Tai Lon raised an eyebrow, one hand going to rest on her hip as she waited for him to speak. When he didn’t, she opened her mouth to prompt him—

“If our mission was to become a search and rescue team, I wouldn’t have wasted my time,” he said. Tai Lon tried and failed to hold back a scowl.

“You said you wanted to _observe_ me, Durance,” she said sourly. “If it turned out to be such a waste, no one is stopping you from leaving. Gods know I don’t believe in forced labor.”

A hand tapped her on the shoulder and Devil appeared at her side. “Not that I’m agreeing with Mr. Tall, Dirty, and Angry,” she said, “but ‘e might have a point. There’s nothing out here—no settlements, no trade routes—for miles. So, there’s no reason _anyone_ should be here. ‘Specially not a kid.”

Aloth crossed his arms, frowning thoughtfully. “You think it’s—”

“—a trap,” finished Sagani. “Could be.”

Tai Lon nodded, but asked, “If there’s no one out here, though, who set it?”

Edér pulled his shield back out. “Only one way to find out,” he said, grimacing as another echoing cry broke through the trees.

About five or so minutes into their trek, which was interspersed with increasingly creepy and irritating shouts, shrieks and whines, Devil leaned over Tai Lon’s shoulder. Her metal chin dug slightly into the hollow of Tai Lon’s neck as she whirred out, “Someone’s followin’ us.” 

Tai Lon nodded, but said nothing, and Devil withdrew, leaving Tai Lon to try and subtly scan the forest. For the first several seconds, there was nothing, but then, at the very edge of her vision, a shadow moved. Too silent to be an animal. And definitely not running away.

Over the next several minutes, Tai Lon set about slowly rearranging their march so that the casters were cushioned in the middle. Confrontation seemed more imminent with each step forward. They settled into the order with little question, though Tai Lon suspected that at least Aloth and Sagani had realized what was happening. She was glad for it when, a few meters forward, Tai Lon felt a tug on her senses.

Flickering like candlelight, the muted magenta aura of a soul was just barely visible up ahead. To her friends, it would look like any other tree, but it was a beacon to Tai Lon.

Luckily, the soul was attached to a toy warhammer, which was planted in the snow at the base of a tree almost like a memorial. Though Devil couldn’t see the soul, she did see the toy and stopped a safe distance away. “Found something,” she said, hands going to her weapons. Tai Lon did the same, listening for any movement. 

She was met with only the usual whispers, still blending eerily with the blustering winds that managed to seep through the trees. When the forest remained otherwise still, no arrows or spells or attackers becoming visible, Tai Lon sighed, biting her cheek.

“Watcher?” asked Aloth from beside her, clearly as anxious as he was confused.

She dropped her grip on her daggers. “There’s a soul attached to the toy,” she said, just loud enough for her party to hear. “And I’m pretty sure someone is waiting for me to talk to it.”

“What do you mean ‘someone?’” asked Edér.

Aloth pulled his grimoire out and started to leaf through it, looking almost casual as he answered, “We’re being followed. And if I understand the situation, whoever it is used that soul as bait. They want her to go into a Watcher trance.”

“She’ll be defenseless,” said Durance, as though he were announcing the weather was currently cold.

Edér frowned. “Now, I don’t know about you, Durance, but I sure think we count as defenses.” He looked over the group, shaking the shield in his grip just slightly. From the corner of her eye, Tai Lon noticed that Devil’s hands were still resting on the grips of her sword and dagger, and that Sagani’s bow was held firmly in one hand.

Aloth glanced up from his grimoire and locked eyes with her, nodding minutely. A smile, small but reassuring, formed on his lips for a moment before it fell, slipping like wet stone under the weight of the party’s collective anxiety. However, his voice was still firm as he said, “If there’s something you need to do with that soul, then I’m sure we can buy you the time to do it.”

Something warm fell over Tai Lon like a blanket, wrapping her tight enough that she could almost believe her friends’ conviction was enough to form a shield on its own. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s do—”

A shriek—pained and frightened—ripped through the air like lightning, and the thunder that followed was a seal erupting from the ground beneath them. Tai Lon had enough time to hiss something impolite about enemy priests before she was falling, her back striking a mass of roots on the forest floor that knocked the wind solidly out of her.

She registered the sounds of arrows being loosed and instinctively rolled to protect herself, getting a face full of snow in the process. However, the multitude of impacts she was expecting never came, replaced by the rapid staccato of darts against wood. Only a single arrow nicked her, leaving a neat cut near the elbow of her left arm. Tai Lon glanced over her shoulder to see Edér and his shield covering her, giving her the time she needed to regain her footing. _Glad one of us resisted it_, she thought with a smile. “Thanks,” she added aloud, patting Edér on the shoulder before turning to check for enemies behind them. 

There was a single shadow vanishing behind one of the trees, and Tai Lon rushed towards it, trusting her friends to take care of the others. One hand outstretched to steady herself against the trunk of the suspicious tree, Tai Lon swung around towards her target, driving her dagger with the momentum.

Two tear-filled blue eyes stared up at her. Tai Lon stumbled as she let go of the tree at the last second, causing her strike to go wide and just scrape some bark from the tree instead of slicing the neck of the _actual child_ now before her. Her breath froze, and her chest didn’t move for several seconds as she and the young dwarf stared at each other.

“What the hell?” Tai Lon finally asked, the words rushing out of her on a single exhale. The sounds of battle faded into a dull hum as she tried to focus on the kid. Her hands shook, nearly releasing their grip on her weapons. A thousand questions ran through her head, tying her thoughts in ribbons as they whirled chaotically. _Who is he? Why is he here? What’s he got to do with them? Is he hurt? How’d he survive? Is he cold? Did they kn—_

Tai Lon’s entire body seized as something burst through her, ripping into her back and straight out of her chest. It _burned_, like she’d been run through with a greatsword fresh off the forge. She couldn’t even twitch, let alone turn around to face whoever had struck her.

Unable to move as she was, Tai Lon watched as a bolt of lightning exited her chest and slammed into the tree in front of her just over the child’s head, immediately bouncing back and shooting through her abdomen. Thousands of sparks swam through her blood as the magic left a second, scorching wound and rocketed back into the distance. She couldn’t even feel the snow under her hands and knees as she dropped forwards, though it seemed like it should be melting under her touch as her body burned itself. Someone in front of her was screaming. She wondered if her insides could turn to ash while she still drew breath. 

_The poor kid shouldn’t have to see this_. It took several seconds for Tai Lon to find the strength to raise her head, and several more for her to realize the child was gone. Then the scream ended, and Tai Lon realized it had come from her own throat.

In the distance, she spotted a flicker of magenta energy. There was a connection there, something to do with the soul, she was sure, but her mind was practically liquid. She couldn’t find the link in all the chaos

Tai Lon turned around and pushed her still-shaking body into a somersault, narrowly avoiding a few magical pellets of energy that had been seconds from hitting her. A caster—a wizard, she corrected, seeing their grimoire—in a familiar black hood and mask had a wand outstretched in her direction. However, seeing that Tai Lon wasn’t down yet, the hand holding it pulled back and came to rest on the figure’s chest as they began a defensive incantation.

Though Tai Lon wasn’t fast enough to stop it, she was deft enough to avoid the arcane double and drive the pommel of her dagger into the wizard’s stomach, just above the navel. She reached up with her stiletto and carved a line down one arm, slicing open the figure’s black robes. She really hoped the winds stung even half as much as the lightning bolt had. She landed two more strikes—not mortal blows, but deep—and was satisfied to see that the figure’s robes were becoming wet with blood and frost as each of her foe’s movements worsened the injuries.

It was enough of a confidence boost for Tai Lon to dive around the figure, who was still gasping for breath and struggling to keep their grimoire and wand steady, and drive both dagger and stiletto into the base of their neck. They gurgled, wetly struggling for another breath, but when Tai Lon pulled her blades back (with a kick to their back for good measure), the figure dropped forwards into the snow, unmoving. She found herself glad, for once, that spellcasters went down so easily.

Her arms slowly wound around her stomach, pinning her charred armor back into some semblance of its proper place, just as Devil snaked around the corner, calling, “You oka—” She froze, taking in what Tai Lon assumed was a mess. “Shit. Hey, priest, get yer ass over here!”

Durance came into view, grumbling as his face went splotchy with anger. He was followed closely by Aloth, and Tai Lon could hear Edér somewhere behind them. “Where’s Sagani?” she asked as Durance began an incantation. 

“Lootin’ the bodies,” Edér said lightly, though his eyes were still fixed on Tai Lon and his brow was furrowed in worry.

Tai Lon nodded as Aloth approached her. She was about to mention the Leaden Key wizard’s grimoire when the first wave of a Consecrated Ground spell washed over her. Instantly, the burning in her veins was muted and the tremors in her hands (and lips and thighs and honestly her entire body) settled as parts of her that she hadn’t even realized were tense started to relax. She sighed as her arms dropped back to her sides, waiting for another few pulses of healing to do their work.

Aloth had reached her side, then, and she inclined her chin towards the body at her feet. “Might want to take a look at that,” she said.

“Are you alright?” Aloth asked, not turning towards the dead wizard in the slightest. Tai Lon noticed one of his hands was halfway raised and his eyes, sharp as they were blue in the dim light, were fixed on her arm. The arrow wound was still visible, though looking better with each passing moment.

Tai Lon frowned, ignoring it. “Fine, but I’d be a lot better if you could tell me whether or not this asshole’s the reason we were hearing things.” Aloth took a step back as she looked up towards Devil and Edér. “Did they have any other casters?”

Edér shrugged. “A priest o’ their own. Woedica’s, I’d think, given the usual…” he gestured to his face and neck.

“This one has a spell bookmarked,” Aloth said, looking up at Tai Lon from where he had knelt in the snow. “It’s… not one I use, but it looks as though it were modified from the Bewildering Spectacle spell.”

The aggressive whirring and clicking of one of Devil’s impatient sighs suddenly added to the roaring winds in the distance. “So?” she asked.

“_So,_” Aloth said, “it’s quite likely that this spell was being used to generate the cries we heard.”

“And the fake kid that got me to turn my back,” Tai Lon finished, grimacing. “That was…stupid.” Durance snorted, but she ignored him. However, as the adrenaline of battle was fading, Tai Lon noted again that her party was shivering and was now sporting some bruises and nicks to match their normal fatigue after a day’s travel. She locked eyes with Edér. “Head back the way we came and find some wood for a fire. I trust you guys and Sagani to sort through these guys’ stuff.” She waved a hand over the wizard’s body as well as back in the direction of the main fight.

“And you?” asked Aloth.

Sheathing her weapons quickly, she rolled her shoulders, barely suppressing a wince as she agitated the wounds on her back. “There’s still a soul over there I need to take care of,” she said. “The rest of it was a set-up, but I don’t think they could fake that.”

Aloth stood and brushed off his robes. “Allow me to go with you,” he said. Tai Lon raised an eyebrow, going to protest, but Aloth continued, “Just in case anyone was left behind.”

“Aloth, you’re freezing,” Tai Lon protested. “And everyone’s exhausted. We need to set up camp. I really don’t think there are any more of these guys—we only saw the one group.”

“If not me, then…” Aloth trailed off, pulling his arms around himself as a breeze swirled past them, shaking snow loose from the trees above.

“I’ll go,” said Devil, carelessly flipping her dagger in one metal hand. “Not like the cold can get to me.”

Aloth nodded stiffly and turned to follow Durance back towards where Sagani was waiting. Edér fell into step behind them after scowling once more at the dead wizard for good measure. Tai Lon turned back in the direction of the abandoned toy.

“He’s worried about’cha,” Devil said from over her shoulder.

Tai Lon resisted rolling her eyes again. “He shouldn’t be. I’m the one who’s worried about him. Wizards can’t take that many hits.” She looked back. “That one back there went down in five stabs and a punch to the solar plexus. Three of those hits weren’t even deep.” The magenta glow of the soul was in front of them again, and Tai Lon walked towards it with a shake of her head.

“For what it’s worth,” Devil said, leaning against a tree nearby, “I don’t think his friends buy him armor that’s nearly as nice as you do yers.”

A short laugh burst from Tai Lon’s lips, and the thought of Leaden Key agents going armor shopping was almost enough to dull the pain of recognizing the face of the young boy whose soul was attached to the toy warhammer. But not quite. After breaking the news that he was dead and struggling to offer some kind of comfort as the young dwarf passed on, Tai Lon remained seated on the snow-covered roots. She was glad the blood of their battle hadn’t soaked all the way to this tree yet. Maybe the kid was still able to see the forest as it was in his last moments—silent and glittering with silver frost.

_It’s all just the Key as usual_, she thought bitterly, getting to her feet. _Assholes_.

She reached out for the toy and tucked it quietly into her bag, ignoring Devil’s needling about being a sentimental flesh-sack as they made their way towards camp.


End file.
